Amnesty International Report Slates Burma's Legal System

by Ma Nguyen Tong

16-3-2003

A ground-breaking trip to Burma by Amnesty International found the judicial system there well below international standards. During its 10-day trip, the delegation met government ministers and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. For Amnesty, this was an initial visit to Burma which it hopes will lead to greater contact in the future as well as the start of more extensive fact-finding missions. The delegation visited prisons during its stay in Rangoon and had private and confidential meetings with seven political prisoners. Members of the delegation also met recently freed prisoners. Even from this short trip to Burma the delegation was able to see clearly that, under the current judicial system, there was little chance of a fair trial or access to defence lawyers. They were also critical of the police which, they said, were well below accepted international standards and in effect were nothing more than uniformed thugs.

Political prisoners

Amnesty has been one of the Burmese regime's staunchest critics. Its authoritative reports over the previous 14 years documented the military government's horrendous human rights record. However, as the Amnesty delegation was keen to point out, there had been significant improvements in recent years, although much more needed to be done.

Amnesty raised its continued concerns about the political prisoners still in detention. It estimated that there were more than 1,200 currently in jail. Amnesty also urged the military government immediately and unconditionally to release 19 of them on humanitarian grounds.

Amnesty, like many others before it, hoped that the Burmese regime would respond favourably to its requests and advice. However, the experience of the UN rapporteur on human rights in Burma was that the military government was loathe to release political prisoners in significant numbers. Burma's generals see them as their main bargaining chip in their relationship with the international community.